Anna OBrien 12MON

Audience Questions

1) The Mainstream: The mainstream is the largest group of all four, as almost everyone in society fits under this. ‘Mainstreamers’ are the people who live in the world of the domestic and the typical everyday life, for example a working class mother with 2 children, husband, all living in a council owned house. Their daily routines are vital to the way they live their lives. These kind of people respond well to big established brands that are often referred to as ‘family’ brands. The ideal television show for a mainstreamer would be ‘Britain's Got Talent’ because year after year it is the same content and structure, but different acts, giving them the reliability that they need in their daily life.

2) The Succeeder: The succeeder in society tends to be people who have a lot of self-confidence, have a strong life goal and also incline to be very organized people. As a result of this they tend to be fulfill roles of responsibility (for example, doctors, bankers and big time businessmen). I feel like the ideal television show for a succeeder would be ‘The Apprentice’ because they are able to witness young apprentices under trial for one of the greatest opportunities a succeeder could have.

3) The Explorer: The explorer are people compelled by a need for discovery, challenge and new experiences. Explorers are often the first people to try out new ideas and encounters available. They respond best to brands that offer new experiences and predominantly instant effects. Their core need in life is for discovery. I think that the explorer would respond well to playing a game in its beta form or playing a brand new indie game such as ‘No Mans Sky’ as it doesn’t follow the mainstream build of the stereotypical fps game.

4) The Aspirer: The aspirer are people who are very materialistic and are driven by others’ views of them rather than how they see themselves.  Due to this they respond to what others see as being superficial, e.g. image, appearance, persona, charisma and fashion. Attractiveness is very important to them and their core need in life is for status. I think that the aspirer would respond well to magazines such as ‘Vogue’ and ‘Cosmopolitan’ as they talk about what is new and what is trendy to today’s society, therefore they can keep up to date with the trends.

1.b) I personally think that these categories presented by Maslow and Young & Rubicam do an outstanding job of sorting people into what type of audience they are and are extremely helpful. I believe the category ‘Mainstream’ is the most helpful as most people in society manage to fit under this, however a lot of people manage to fit under more than one as they may prefer to watch mainstream television shows such as ‘The X Factor’ or ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ but fall under the aspirer as they prefer big name brands such as ‘MAC’ or ‘Chanel’ other than more family name brands.

1.c) A programme that is currently on television is the ‘Great British Bake Off’, this is a competitive show as it presents 12 amateur bakers competing for the title of the best amateur baker in the United Kingdom. This show airs at 8pm on a Wednesday night, therefore I believe middle aged mothers or older women would watch this to relax after they’ve put the kids to bed and are in need of relaxation. Although there are male contestants and it is open to anybody who wishes to watch, I think that the stereotypical viewer would be an old age pensioner, predominantly a woman, who takes an interest in baking and is in search of new recipes. Also at this time of night the man of the household may still be in work or prefers to take an interest in sport other than baking. I believe this because the stereotypical baker is an older woman, in her sixties who watches it as a part of her routine on a Wednesday night.

1.d) I think that the programme ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ would entice people in the category of ‘groupies’ as they aspire to get the acceptance from those around them and watching one of the most famous competitive shows is bound to get their approval and also give them the opportunity to join in with conversation on that topic. The programme ‘The Apprentice’ would most probably appeal to either ‘egotists’ who are people mainly converned to get the most for themselves out of life or ‘innovators’ who are people who wish to make their mark on the world. I think these people would react well to ‘The Apprentice’ because they wish to do well in their lives. I think the video game ‘No Mans Sky’ would appeal to ‘drifters’ who are people who aren’t necessarily sure what they want from the world, therefore they would react well to an indie story game such as ‘No Mans Sky’ because it combines great story lines along with great gameplay and animation, which is ideal for somebody who is unsure. I think that the magazines such as ‘Vogue’ or ‘Cosmopolitan’ would be perfect for ‘Trendies’ as they are people who are desperate to have the admiration of their friends and the people around them and magazines that present ways on how to make yourself lose weight or what the newest line of Gucci makeup looks like will reflect their personality and provide them with the ‘status’ that they need. I think that the television show ‘The Great British Bake Off’ would be ideal for people such as ‘Traditionalists’ who are people who want everything to remain the same, or ‘Utopians’ who are people who wish to make the world a better place. I think that these people would love ‘TGBBO’ because the programme is very consistent with content and allows watchers to replicate creations from recipes and instructions on the BBC website.